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Topic: Minotaur I - NROL-66 - Feb 5, 2011 (Read 43152 times)

On February, 5th a Minotaur-1 rocket will launch a classified satellite payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from SLC-8, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The launch is called NROL-66

The Minuteman silos were "air conditioned" to maintain the SRM's at a constant temperature so that the performance was always the same for each vehicle. The yellow material is a jacket in which conditioned air is pumped in

What strikes me about the pictures from spaceflightnow is that they emphasise just how small the Minotaur is compared to liquid-fuelled LVs. You could see one being launched from a V2-style mobile launcher!

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"Oops! I left the silly thing in reverse!" - Duck Dodgers

~*~*~*~

The Space Shuttle Program - 1981-2011

The time for words has passed; The time has come to put up or shut up!DON'T PROPAGANDISE, FLY!!!

What strikes me about the pictures from spaceflightnow is that they emphasise just how small the Minotaur is compared to liquid-fuelled LVs. You could see one being launched from a V2-style mobile launcher!

Russia's Minuteman counterpart, Topol, does just that. Several were used to orbit payloads under the START program, and those were launched from mobile launchers. It was never clear to me why the U.S. did not develop a similar capability.

In terms of the solid/liquid size comparison, Falcon 1 is probably the best liquid comparison to Minotaur 1.

What strikes me about the pictures from spaceflightnow is that they emphasise just how small the Minotaur is compared to liquid-fuelled LVs. You could see one being launched from a V2-style mobile launcher!

Russia's Minuteman counterpart, Topol, does just that. Several were used to orbit payloads under the START program, and those were launched from mobile launchers. It was never clear to me why the U.S. did not develop a similar capability.